Goals:

• Why do you blog?

Simply, it's good for my soul. I feel happy when I blog, or if I'm aggravated I can let it out in a post. If I'm excited I can let it out, too. I get a chance to stretch my writerly muscles without committing to a mammoth writing project that will tie my brain in knots.

• What long-term goals do you hope to accomplish, if any at all?

From blogging? Wherever I go, there I am. I've never been goal-oriented with blogging, except on a short-term basis (series, etc.) I'd say Intl Wota Press has provided me with a significant opportunity, but that seems to be more of a by-product of blogging, and not about blogging itself at all. Oh, and I want an army of Sharks With Lasers on Their Heads.

• Where does your blog fail to meet your goals?

Nowhere. It's my blog. It's just…what I think. A good 90% of it may be clownshoes, but it's mine regardless.

• If you do have goals, what will accomplishing them do for yourself?

A sense that wherever I am in life, whatever I'm going through, I will always have something of quasi-permanence to turn to. Blogging/reviewing has been a hobby of mine for almost ten years now, and in addition to being therapeutic, it's also very much a comfort place.

• What do you want to gain out of blogging? A creative outlet? Praise from others? Personal satisfaction? Money?

As I stated above, mostly just the comfort of having somewhere to go and write shit down. The audience has become a strange entity that has formed because of my efforts at Pink Wota specifically, and I think I have to amend any selfishness to say that I want to continue blogging in order to maintain the friends I've gained through the blogosphere of Intl Wota and beyond.

• Do you feel that your blog should meet a requirement for amount of entries? Do you feel any particular entry should be a certain length?

Depends on the topic. I never pay attention to word counts – more to the overall roundness of a blog's read. If I can write three paragraphs and manage to get everything across, that's a solid article to me. No need to go for the gusto. If a screencap needs only one word to communicate my thoughts, that's cool. I'm not out to win a Pulitzer, but occasionally the mood strikes me to go balls-out literary on a post. These moods are few and far between, but when I can ride that edge, it's very satisfying. As for amount of entries, nuts to that. Pink Wota is like a manic/depressive blog (hmm…that hit a little too close to home, that one did…). My personal blog is much the same. If real life takes precedence, I don't mind. I'm not delusional enough to think everyone's wondering "WHERE DID VEE GO!?" I have my personal blog to keep up with personal friends.

• For any particular entry, what motivates you to start and finish blog posts?

This is a very interesting question. I've been sitting here thinking about it for some time, and I find myself thinking "Yatta!"…that's seriously the extent of my answer, but I'll attempt to extrapolate. When I find myself in a writing rut, which is a lot, and that chapter or that rewrite isn't coming along as it should, I can usually say "okay, fuck it, I'm going to write a few paragraphs about how awesome ______ is and post it on Pink Wota" and finish that. When I do, it's like I've accomplished something in my writing life, and it motivates me to get on with what I've reinforced my ability to do. Write, damnit.

• Do you actively consider long term goals for each individual post?

God, no. Though Sharks With Lasers on Their Heads are always a goal.

Subject Material:

• What do you blog about?

On my personal journal, Absolutely Nothing At All. And by that, I mean Everything. On Pink Wota, it's usually Hello!Project or Ayumi Hamasaki.

• Would you be keep a blog even if it wasn’t about the subjects you tend to cover?

God, yes. I've thought about giving up my personal blog, and that thought alone is enough to bring me to tears. It seriously is my diary, even if it has an "audience". It's my friend. ;___; I'm so pathetic and lonely.

• Do you write about the material to promote it to others?

Oh yes! I love recommending things, which was a motivation behind my PinkCasts. If I believe very strongly about the quality of something (Date Kouji, Ayumi Hamasaki, all that damned H!P stuff) I will force it down the readers' throats. I'm even worse about this on my personal blog.

Readership:

• How much do you care about readership?

Tons. I'd pretend to be all aloof and say "It's my blog, I don't give a fuck what you say", but, while that's true to an extent, no blog is an island. Except maybe Hello!Island. >__> I felt defensive and hurt when I was attacked over my Takahashi post. I felt validated and elated when I was voted Best New Blog. I really love getting comments, and I love it when my fellow bloggers post entries. I'll track comments to see what other people have to say. I take things personally, which is something I should really get over if I want to be a journalistic writer of any sort, but I sometimes use those emotions to the end of writing I can be truly proud of.

• Does it satisfy you to know people are reading, even if they don’t comment?

God, yes. No further explanation needed.

• What effect does receiving a comment have on you?

Warm fuzzies. Seriously. Unless it's "Die in a fire", then I quirk an eyebrow and feel very, very angry, then sad, then probably hungry because all those emotions take a lot out of me.

• Do you write with a particular audience in mind or an unspecified general audience? Why?

I'm answering only for Pink Wota on this one, because for my personal blog the answer is, of course, my friends. Can, um…can my answer be "Specified General Audience"? The answer is "The J-Pop Crowd". Since my blog is on LJ and I have a lot of readers who've probably never heard of IntlWota (even though I mention the site so much I might as well be driving a NASCAR under its sponsorship), I can't narrow it down to IW. I like to give the PW audience the benefit of the doubt and presuppose that they know enough about J-Pop to appreciate or at least be intrigued by what I'm saying. A working knowledge of J-Pop is almost mandatory, though I've had friends who don't know a lick about things aside from my frenzied crash courses become regular readers (what's up Erin you sexy bitch).

• If you write for a particular audience, is it International Wota? If yes, why?

See above! \:D/

Community: (The International Wota section)

• If International Wota didn’t exist, would you blog?

Of course! LiveJournal has been my "home" since 2001. Even if I had ten subscribers or less, they'd all probably be from my friends list and that would only mean I could turn up the foul language, indoctrination, and rampant biased opinions! Even if LiveJournal didn't exist, I'd blog SOMEWHERE. Here's the part where I tell you all about Blocking the Wall. See, back in 1999 I started a movie review site called Blocking the Wall, and I started to get frustrated because I couldn't generate any traffic to my site. These were the days before "social networking" sites. I received some of the best advice I've ever gotten on a BBS: "You have to be passionate, and persistent. You may wait five years or five days for your site to pick up. It may never even happen at all. But when it does you'll want to make sure that the body of work you've accumulated is exactly what you want it to be. Take pride in your site because "popularity" isn't everything – it's passion." I have taken this to heart. If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it – hey wait! I CUT DOWN THAT TREE! I'm here! In other words, I guess, I can entertain myself for years at a time.

The irony here is that I gave up on Blocking the Wall about the same time I dropped out of film school and joined LiveJournal, which all happened in the space of about three months. >_>

• When IW covers an entry of yours, are you encouraged to blog more or less?

The same. IW coverage is like a cherry on top, but I'm having fun playing with my neat little writing toys! Wheee! Mom put my picture on the refrigerator! I'm so happy! I've drawn five thousand other pictures, too!

• When IW does not cover an entry, are you encouraged to blog more or less?

The same. IW are busy peeps and sometimes my entries are totally pants.

• How often do you read other blogs?

Often enough. If some of you only knew how often I silently stalk your blogs…!

• How often do you comment on other blogs?

Not as much as I read, sadly. Sometimes I just don't know how to say what I want to say.

• If another blog covers a topic that you wanted or wished to cover, do you still blog about that specific topic? Why or why not?

Depends on the topic. If it's a very specific thing, then of course I won't take on the same topic. But if it's a new PV, or something broader, I always try to throw my $.02 in. Again, my audience is on LJ, and some of them may not hear about 'Namida no Iro' unless I say something. XD

Commitment:

• How serious is your attitude towards blogging? Do you consider it just as something to do for fun?

Not just for fun, but it's not SRS FSCKNG BZNS either. It's something that has had great meaning in my life, before and beyond Pink Wota. But where Pink Wota is concerned, it's had some great impact there, as well. The friends I've made through the blogosphere – I wouldn't trade them for anything. CJ and Wu especially, with whom I have regular personal correspondence. Even the IW-based conversations with pengie or hanachan or Julia leave me feeling very fulfilled. Boy, my Cancer side is showing, isn't it? I want to edify through blogging, but more than anything I think it's about emotion for me. Whether it's the emotion I want to convey, the emotional brush with which I choose to paint my blogging canvas, or the emotions I get from the act of blogging. I think this has been dubbed "comfort blogging". That's it for me.  

• How often do you blog? How often would you like to blog?

Enough. It's just right. J

• What priorities do you or have you put aside in order to blog? Why?

Priorities are Priorities. Some days writing or blogging may BE my priority, but if the days priorities are "grocery shopping, clean house, pay bills, work", then blogging probably won't enter that. Still, when it's one of my priorities it's very rewarding to say I accomplished something with it on that particular day.

• Do you see yourself blogging in 6 months? Why or why not

Most definitely. See my very first answer.

Personal:

• Would you say you blog for yourself?

Definitely. You see…and this is going to sound so sad…a good 90% of my friends live in different cities, states, continents. Blogging gives me a sense of social identity, and, therefore, it's sort of an extension of myself that I can present to my friends, and, by proxy, to my readership at large. All that was very existential. I need to put on some music that's a little less pretentious. *plays Buono!* This is better.

• What is your feeling after posting an entry? Is it relative to the time and effort you put in an entry?

I always feel accomplished. I wouldn't push "post" unless I felt confident and satisfied with the content, even if my efforts are subpar. Everyone has their off days on a grand scale, but I think "yaaay I wrote something!" every single time.

• What needs does blogging fulfill?

See above. All of the above. O___o

• Do you consider yourself a writer?

Above all other things.

• Do you consider yourself good at writing? Good at blogging?

The former, definitely. The latter, it depends. What defines "good at blogging" anyway? Where are the critics? I suppose so…though I could be a little more active in the extra activities such as commenting and Wota Chat.

• How much of your personal life do you share on your blog? If none, why do you leave this out?

A lot. Too much, some might say. I don't know any way to write other than personally. I studied under the works of Hunter S. Thompson, Bill Hicks, and Lester Bangs, after all, so there isn't much about my writing that doesn't have a flair of my personality, and, by extension, my life, interwoven. My life might be pretty cool to you. I swear, in my head it's awesome. Have you ever seen 'Romy & Michele's High School Reunion'? My best friend and I are those two. Delusions of grandeur which become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Bloggers of the world, believe you are fabulous, believe you are interesting, and fuck the haters. Even if you are the world's biggest asshole, fuck the haters. Because we all have our audience. Wheee. There I go again. I hope this helped.